Days of Our Lives ON HIATUS
by muffinlover18
Summary: These days of our lives, we don't realize how short they are until they're gone. We play around and pretend we're immortal. Then one of our own is claimed by Death himself, what can we do but wish everything could be different? Full summary inside. OC fic


**Full Summary: **_These days of our lives, we don't realize how short they are until they're gone. We frolic and play and pretend like we're immortal. But then, when one of our own is claimed by Death himself, what can we do but wish everything could be different? This is the untold story of Emma and Ally, two best friends along for the magical journey at Hogwarts, alongside the Longbottoms and Lily and the Marauders, as their lives unfold. But what will become of them as tragedy strikes again and again?_

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><p>Hey ya'll! It's me, yay! so i've recently been trying to think of a story to write, and no ideas have been hitting me D" so i decided the best i could do was write a Harry Potter themed story. =3 yay right? well anyway, i hope you like it. This is only the first chapter (duh) and i may or may not post following chapters, depending on reviews, favorites yada yada yada. I dunno. so…yeah. (cant you tell im such a graceful person to listen to? XD) anywho…i'm mostly babbling here, so. yeaahh.. and sorry in advance about the very first sentence. it stupid and i should probably get rid of it…but im too lazy XD so, you can read now yay!<p>

**Harry Potter and all its stuff belongs to JK Rowling. **the other characters, the plot(ish) and my mind all belong to moi. DARN. if only i owned harry potter…DX

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><p><em>Chapter 1<em>

The day is September 1st, a day that I will not soon forget.

I stand awkwardly, trembling all over, unsure of what to do with myself, as I tug nervously on my shirt's hem. I bite my lip gently, my dark cobalt eyes gazing around the bustling train station, one where I'm allegedly trying to discover where Platform 9 ¾ has gone to. I dare not ask any of the directing officers patrolling the area, as they would give me a look to say, "_What a lunatic_."

I glanced nervously up at the giant clock again, the time reading that I only had about fifteen minutes left before the Hogwarts train left the station – with or without me. My cat, Seriah, mewed lazily from her wicker basket, as if to ask me when she could get out of her confining case.

"Shhh," I murmured to her, trying to ignore the weird looks I was receiving from several people walking by me, eyeing my strange trunk. My stomach was slowly dropping, the point of nervousness becoming imminent worry. I was creeping steadily along to panic mode, feeling rather dim-witted that I simply couldn't find the infuriatingly stupid platform.

"Miss?" an unfamiliar voice inquired from behind me. I jumped, turning toward a burly man with a furry mustache on his upper lip, his kind brown eyes gazing down at me. "Are you lost?"

I stared at him for a second, almost unwilling to answer, and then replied timidly,

"Well, sir, if I told you what I was looking for, I have quite the feeling you would find me insane."

The man quirked his eyebrows inquisitively.

"Well than, Miss, you should be off finding your parents if I can't help you." He gave me a piercing look, and I quivered, trying to will myself not to let loose a few frightened and worried tears. He walked back away, leaving me to stand by myself once more.

I glanced up at the clock reflexively again, noticing that my fifteen minutes had been reduced to ten. I gulped, my mouth suddenly dry, my nerves going haywire. I was just about to turn and leave, and retain my dignity while I could and find a way home, when I heard a voice pass by me, talking to someone.

"I expect I'll study as much as I can," an eager tone weeding its way into the speaker's small voice. "I certainly want to learn as much about magic as I can! How exciting!"

At once, I knew that whoever was speaking was discussing Hogwarts with someone. I whirled around, my blonde hair flying into my face as I moved. I brushed it away hopefully, my blue eyes scanning the crowds. Immediately, my eyes landed upon a strangely dressed girl about my age, talking to her mother, who walked calmly beside her. I bit my lip, unsure if I should follow them or not, and then, on a split second decision, raced after them.

"Excuse me!" I called out anxiously, my cart rattling against the floor as I dashed towards them. The young, redheaded girl turned her head curiously, and seemed to realize I was yelling for their attention. Her bright green eyes flickered up to her mother's, tugging at her sleeve for her attention.

"Mum, wait a second." Her mom stopped, giving her freckly daughter a questioning look.

"What is it, sweetie?" she asked, and I noticed she had the same exact shade of emerald as her young daughter, who was watching me approach apprehensively, a welcoming smile on her pale face.

"Hi!" the girl exclaimed when I caught up to them. I stopped, now feeling idiotic for chasing after them.

"Hullo," I answered reluctantly. "D'you know how-how to find the Hogwarts Express, by any chance?" I asked, tugging on my shirt again. The girl smiled brightly.

"I do believe so, yes," she replied. "You can come with us if you like? Where are your parents?" At her question, I clenched my shirt hem in my fist tightly, yanking on it.

"Er – they – I don't live with my parents. I live with my – erm – adopted parents," I mumbled, awkwardly fidgeting. At once, the girl's face dropped sympathetically. She smiled kindly at me, and I smiled tentatively back, my face burning with shame. She reached out and grasped my hand, grinning at me.

"Let's go get on the train. We might miss it at this rate!" She pulled at my hand, making me stumble forward after her. Her mom followed closely behind us. The girl slowed after a couple of seconds, pausing momentarily in between two station numbers – 9 and 10.

"The person who told me where to go said something about a secret entrance," the girl told me excitedly. "Something about one of these pillars being the gateway to the hidden platform." She stepped forward toward the column labeled '10' and tested it with her small hands, slapping them against the brick. She waited a second, and then pushed, as if to open a door. Nothing happened.

Not perturbed in the least, she practically skipped over to the other one, labeled '9', and tested this one similarly. Only this time, when she meant to slap her hands against the brick, they seemed to go right through. I paled considerably at this, wondering if something had gone wrong. She turned towards me, her face flushed with enthusiasm.

"I think I found it!" she whispered eagerly to me. I could only gape at her, my eyes fixed, horrified, on where her hands should be.

"C'mon!" she said loudly to me, making me jump, snapping my neck to face her. "Let's go get our trolleys!" I nodded dumbly at her, watching in mesmerization as she pulled her hands out from the previously figured _solid_ brick pillar, and skipped happily over to where her mother was hovering beside our trolleys, her face expressing piqued interest as she tried to get her enthused daughter to tell her how she found it.

But the girl hardly listened, yanking her trolley around as I hesitantly stepped toward my own trolley, as though it might snap at me, or swallow me up like the brick arch. I tentatively grasped the cool metal handle, and turned it slowly toward the brick column where the girl was practically jumping up and down with exhilaration. It was odd, seeing one so worked up over frightening things such as _magic_.

"Hurry along!" she yelled at me, anxious to move through the gateway. "It's not going to hurt, that's what the man said."

I gulped, barely hearing a word she was saying, as I eyed the brick suspiciously, as if it were a disguised black hole, just waiting for us to step through and be sucked into nonexistence, all because a hyper redhead had been told by a stranger that this was a gateway to a school for magic. Absurd!

I bit my lip, fingering the hem of my t-shirt nervously, as the redhead gestured me to move closer.

"Hurry up! We only have six minutes left before the train departs!" the girl exclaimed, a hint of irritation at my hesitation lying beneath her vociferous tones. I bit down on my lip, as I nodded, hoping I wasn't writing my own death sentence by going through with this.

The redhead turned, facing her mother for a moment. "Mum, you can go in after us. I'm not sure the three of us would fit." The woman nodded quietly, murmuring words of cautiousness to her overly excited daughter – who was beginning to remind me of a crazy puppy.

"Alright," she said, turning back towards the column. Her tone took on a more determined sound, and when her jade eyes met mine, as she glanced at me as if for approval, I was startled at the steeliness in them. "Ready?" she asked me.

I gulped reflexively, clenching the handle on my trolley so tightly that my skin turned white where it was stretching over my knuckles. I bit my lip, and nodded weakly.

"On three, we'll walk forward alright?" she told me, the steely look in her eye still prominent. I nodded again, afraid if I spoke, I might unintentionally back out. "Alright…one…two…_three_!"

On three, both of us moved forward, slowly, but steadily, approaching the barrier. We gained gradual speed as we grew closer and closer until we were nearly jogging and then the brick barrier was right on us and I wanted to back out now before we crashed or got sucked into a black hole but it was too late to turn, I would get pulled in –

I squeezed my eyes shut forcefully right before we met ends with the brick, and instead of slamming into a solid wall, or getting the feeling of being sucked into oblivion and dying, it was as if we had simply walked through nothing, like air or something. When I opened my eyes again, I gasped out loud in shock and surprise. I gaped at the scene around me, as if perhaps thinking this was some strange dream that I expected to wake up from any minute now.

The platform was full of steam, and in and out of it walked students from my age to what seemed to be giants at 17? with their parents or friends. There was a constant stream of strange noises, which I quickly identified as owls hooting and squawking loudly in greeting or indignation, and cats hissing and spitting and meowing, and toads _ribet_ing – all in the same space of time, making the hustle and bustle of it all sound a bit like a bizarre zoo. People were holding out their wands, examining them or sneaking around and trying to do magic, and I could hear bits and piece of conversation around me that utterly baffled me.

"– did you hear about the Chudley Cannons terrible defeat - ?"

"– my Sleeping Draught went haywire the other day – !"

"– Witch Weekly? Last week's was all about Laney Cravis and her singing armadillo -"

"- Almost pulled a Bat Bogey hex on my sister before my parents caught me –"

"- I couldn't practice Quidditch _all_ summer, and I was hoping to make the open Chaser spot this year –"

As I was trying to decipher whatever Quidditch was, and who the Chudley Cannons were, the steam lifted slightly, and revealed a scarlet train, with the words "Hogwarts Express" emblazoned in gold letters on the side. It gleamed in the light of the platform, and I was awed at the sight; I had never seen such a beautiful train, no matter how strange that sounds.

"Wooww…" the freckly girl beside me whispered in awestruck wonder, mirroring my unspoken thoughts.

Behind us, her mom came through the gateway, her expression cautious, as if her fears were similar to mine. The girl and I turned towards her mom just as a high pitched whistle sounded from somewhere near the luminous train, which I took as a warning signal to board the train. A quick glance at the giant clock confirmed these uncertainties.

"Bye, Mum," said the girl, her voice now startlingly sober, almost tearful. She looked up at her mother and wrapped her arms around her quickly. "I'll write you often, I promise, Mum. And don't worry, you'll see me at Christmas."

"Be good dear," her mother murmured softly, patting her daughter affectionately on the head. As the auburn-haired girl pulled away, her mother said, "Hurry now, dear, before you miss the train."

"Bye, Mum, I love you!" cried the girl, delight seeping back into her tones, grabbing hold of her trolley once more and motioning me to follow her.

As we were unloading our trunks and pets, the warning whistle sounded once more, and then came the call for people to hurry and get on board the train. We hurriedly snatched up our trunks and leapt onto the train, with hardly a minute to spare.

"I don't believe I've introduced myself," the girl said conversationally as we ambled down the corridor, past full to burst compartments, glancing at me with her bright green eyes. "I'm Lily Evans. What's your name?"

As she peered curiously into the oncoming compartments, I quietly answered, "Emma. Emma Adams."

The girl – Lily did she call herself? – flashed me a pleased smile as we continued on, the lurch of the train indicating that it was leaving the platform now.

"Would you like to be friends then, Emma?" she inquired of me, oh-so eager for some odd reason. I gave her an uneasy look and stuttered over my words.

"Uh – erm – s-sure, if that's what you would l-like."

"Aha!" she yelled out suddenly, finding something. For a fearful moment, I thought perhaps she had found another secret entrance to maybe the lavatory, but then I realized with stupidity that she was staring happily into a compartment. She glanced back at me, her bottle green eyes dancing inexplicably; honestly, she got excited over everything!

"I do believe I've found us a nice compartment, as long as you don't mind the fact that there's another girl our age sitting in there by herself." I shook my head, not wanting to appear rude. Lily positively beamed, and I gave her a wary look as she gleefully opened the sliding door.

"Hello there!" Lily practically bellowed at the poor girl sitting in there already, as if she thought maybe she happened to be deaf. I peeked over Lily's petite shoulders to see a small, skinny girl with mousy brown hair and a pale complexion, already wearing her robes just as Lily was, and staring up warily at the overly excited ginger that had just invaded her space and screamed at her.

"Um, hello?" she responded, sounding bewildered. "Can I help you?" she asked hesitantly, as if afraid we might throw her out the compartment window or beat her up. I quickly opened my mouth before Lily could yell some more.

"Do you mind if we sit in here with you?" I questioned, jabbing Lily in the back so she would keep her mouth closed. The unknown girl's light brown eyes flickered over to me, taking in my calmer, almost nervous expression and watched me with curious eyes and a guarded expression.

"I guess I don't mind," she said resignedly, giving Lily another fearful glance, as though she might implode with pure joy. I beamed thankfully at her and shoved Lily and her trunk into the compartment, following behind her quickly. I shut the sliding door behind me and then helped Lily slide her trunk up onto the luggage rack about our heads, and in turn she helped me with mine.

I took the seat by the window, across from the unidentified brunette, setting Seriah's basket in between myself and Lily. I opened the lid and let her out to roam the spacious compartment, her black coat gleaming prettily as she settled comfortably in my lap.

"So what's you're name?" I asked the girl across from me interestedly. She offered a half smile and replied, "Allyson Faulkner. But everyone calls me Ally." I grinned at her, trying to make her feel a little bit more comfortable around us.

"Well, it's certainly nice to meet you, Ally," I chattered, stroking Seriah's head just behind her dainty little ears. She purred as I continued, "I'm Emma, and this loud girl here –" I jabbed my finger at Lily "- is Lily. Thanks for letting us sit with you," I added as an afterthought, assuming she would've preferred to have been left alone. She smiled hesitantly back, slowly warming up to me.

"So are you a First Year as well?" I inquired pleasantly, as Lily quickly became bored with the uneventfulness of the past few minutes. She yawned, frowning slightly, and jumped up, running her fingers through her wild, fiery hair.

"I'm going to go tour the train," she announced, flouncing from the compartment, and shutting the door with a soft _click_ behind her. Ally stared at the door for a moment in what appeared to be confusion, and then glanced back at me.

"Yeah," she said, visibly relaxing, obviously from the absence of the emboldened Lily. "I'm a First Year. I s'pose you are as well." I nodded.

"Have you ever heard of this before?" I asked her curiously, wondering if perhaps she had been raised differently. She shook her head with a light frown.

"Not really. I have gotten snippets of such things like magic and a school for those of my 'blood type', but my father and my stepmother don't really know much about it. My mum was a witch, pureblood, but she died early on in her life."

"I'm sorry," I said humbly, not really knowing what else to say. "My parents died too, just when I was a baby. I was given up for adoption and my new parents were Muggles, and highly dislike me. But I've been told both my parents were magical, so I'm guessing that means I'm pureblood." Ally gave me a sympathetic look.

"Why would your adoptive parents, well, _adopt_ you if they didn't like you?" she asked quizzically, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. I shrugged carelessly as Seriah lithely jumped from my lap and began exploring the compartment in vague interest.

"I suppose they thought they could bring me up as a normal, quiet child, but I was the opposite of what they imagined me to be. I'm strong-willed, curious, overly obnoxious and emotional and all sorts of things. I imagine they'd have liked a daughter who was cool and calm and collected, who was a genius and neat, and preferred to study quietly in her dark bedroom rather than run like a wild child through playgrounds and read all my picture books out loud." I heaved a sigh, looking out the window momentarily, as the sun shone brilliantly over gently rolling hills of what appeared to be the countryside.

"But they do care for you, don't they?" She sounded worried, as if perhaps I had been beaten to near death every time I spoke too loud or something. I shrugged again.

"I s'pose. I mean, if they didn't, they might as well have returned me to the adoption agencies and retrieved a much more respectable child. But it's not like they shower me with love. They basically ignore me, only talking to me at the dinner table and when they need my help for a job around the house. But they feed me, give me clothes and a bed to sleep on. So I'm alright." I flashed her a quick smile and then hurriedly changed the subject. "So what about you, then, Ally? What's your life like?"

She half-smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. Her reflective brown eyes glanced out the window as if to gaze at the scenery flashing by, but judging by her less than peaceful expression, she was contemplating my question. I waited patiently, knowing the difficulty of sharing your life story with someone you just met; after all, I had just done this.

"You don't have to tell me," I quickly offered, not wanting to impose anything. She looked back at me, a sorrowful smile tugging at her lips, her eyes brooding with unmistakable regret. "I don't want to force anything out of you. I was simply curious."

"You sure you don't mind, then?" she asked quietly, and I wondered vaguely what was so terrible that it was laborious to share. Of course, I was a complete stranger, and it could be any number of things, both big and small. I gave her what I hoped was a comforting smile and shook my head, my fingers automatically finding my shirt's hem and toying with it without taking notice. Her only response was a grateful smile.

There was a short, slightly awkward silence continuing this, until Seriah gave a loud meow, and I discovered her to be cowering with fear atop the luggage rack, clawing desperately at the trunk. I laughed, wondering with astonishment how in the world she had gotten up there. Ally looked up from her interlaced fingers in her lap and giggled softly at the small cat's predicament.

"Come here, Seriah!" I said soothingly to her, standing and stretching so I could offer her my hands to climb onto. She mewed again, obviously so afraid of heights and of falling that she wouldn't even attempt reach my hands.

"It's okay, Seriah," I coaxed her gently. "I'll make sure you're okay." But, still, she wouldn't move, mewing frantically more and more as the moments ticked by. I gave an amused sigh and climbed on top the velvet bench seats to better reach her. I leaned forward and tenderly scooped her trembling mass of lustrous black fur into my safe hands.

"There, see?" I told her, climbing slowly back down, and resuming my seat. I placed her in my lap and tapped her nose, making her teeny face screw up as if to sneeze. "You're perfectly alright, see?" Seriah simply resigned herself to settling comfortably inside her cushioned carrier/wicker basket bed, and yawned, as if the entire ordeal had been exhausting for her tiny amount of energy. I rolled my eyes at her.

"You're cat is one strange pet," Ally commented, snickering. I burst out laughing – for what reason I had no idea – and she soon joined me.

The morning quickly rolled into midday and we were both startled from our amusing conversation as an elderly woman pushing a trolley piled high with odd-looking goodies rapped on our compartment door and asked if we'd like anything.

We both stood curiously, peering at the peculiar candies and things stacked hither and whither. I eyed the chocolate candies appreciatively, and ended up buying several 'Chocolate Frogs' and a pack of 'Drooble's Best Blowing Gum' for later. Ally bought a few pumpkin pastries and we resettled ourselves back inside the compartment.

"Have you ever heard of these things?" I asked her intriguingly, holding up a little box with the Chocolate Frog. Ally shook her head, looking just as bamboozled as me. I shrugged, and cautiously popped it open.

I very nearly screamed – and I had good reason, as a mid-size frog made entirely of chocolate lobbed itself out of the box, as if it were real. As it was, Ally let out a small squeal, surprised by the suddenness of its jump. I quickly regained my senses and trapped it, and attempted to eat it. It was the best chocolate I had ever tasted – not that that said much.

"Here, have one," I said enthusiastically, tossing one of the boxes to Ally. I then noticed a little card – not unlike the playing cards I had seen in the grubby hands of the neighborhood children – residing inside the small box where the chocolate frog had been sitting. I slipped it out with an air of curiosity, and examined it.

On one side of the thick card was a picture of a person whom I didn't recognize. The person had a long silvery beard that extended beyond the edge of the picture, and long wispy, silvery hair, seemingly just as long. He was old looking, yet his expression gave you the feeling that he was rather young, and besides that, that maybe he was giving you a peculiar feeling of x-raying you. He had twinkling blue eyes upon his wizened face, set just above a crooked nose – as if it had been broken on more than one occasion – and he wore half-moon spectacles on the bridge of his nose, his penetrating gaze staring up at you from over the top of the glasses.

"'Albus Dumbledore'," I read off the card. His name shone in the light from the window momentarily as I stared – entranced – at it. The name sounded strangely familiar, as if perhaps he was a great uncle I met once when I was a teensy child, or maybe a distant childhood friend long forgotten (though the latter was highly unlikely, upon the merest of glances at his silver hair and wrinkled face). I pursed my lips in deep thought as I stared pensively at the glimmering card.

"What's up?" Ally asked of me, cautiously opening her Chocolate Frog box and grabbing it before it could escape. My dark blue eyes flickered up to her for a moment.

"Have you, by any chance, heard of an old man named Albus Dumbledore?" I questioned, feeling almost stupid that the answer was practically on my tongue, but I couldn't quite grasp it. Ally #!*% her head curiously, and looked at me for a moment. Then her brown eyes lit up it recognition and she grinned.

"Yeah. He's the Headmaster of Hogwarts, isn't he?" At once, the recognition flooded me, and I smiled with relief, though I was a bit annoyed with myself – strangely enough – that I hadn't figured it out the moment I saw it. But, then again, I was new to this whole thing, so I guessed it would've happened to me eventually.

"Thanks," I said off-handedly, once more distracted by another Chocolate Frog box, snatching it up with great enthusiasm and tossing the collectible card aside for later.

The rest of the train ride was rather uneventful, Lily never returning until the sky was an inky black and the swinging lanterns in the compartments had been lit for quite awhile. And even when she did happen to come back to the compartment, her excitement seemed to have not ebbed away with the time – if anything she was more excited now – she only lingered for a moment, just to collect her trunk and owl so she could depart for a new compartment.

"Sorry," she apologized, mainly to me, but unable to keep her grin off her freckled face. "But I've found myself a nice group of friends. We can still be okay friends, though, right?" she asked; but her question was pointless. She left no room for a response from me – not that it would've made a difference anyhow – as she was suddenly distracted by her new friends calling for her in equally loud and enthusiastic voices.

"Well, bye!" she half yelled to me, waving her hand around as if she were swatting a fly, not even turning to look at me as she dashed away without a glance back. I stared at the door for a moment, wondering what in the world just happened.

"Well…that was unexpected..?" I could hear the skepticism in Ally's voice, which told me she hadn't really expected Lily to stay, and I had a strong impression that she was rather glad. "That doesn't bother you, though does it?" she asked apprehensively, suddenly. "I mean – don't mean to be an intruder – should you go after her?"

I turned and faced Ally, smiling happily at her.

"Hey," I said with a shrug, the smile on my face huge now, "we can have just as much fun without her – maybe more!" At this, Ally's face broke into a delighted smile, and she said nothing, though her gratitude for me not leaving her shone obviously in her eyes.

Just then, the train began to slow its pace, and I inferred that the train was arriving in the station.

"_The Hogwarts Express has arrived at the station. If all students would please leave their luggage to be picked up and disembark from the train. Thank you_," a cool voice suddenly said over an intercom. I jumped slightly at this, wondering how it worked, seeing as there were no speakers. But then I got over my jumpiness and turned to Ally with a devilish grin.

"Shall we get off the train and began our education here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"

She grinned back, and we hurried from our compartment, our school robes donned and billowing in the breeze as we rushed to get off the train and being our lifetime.

After all, it was only just the beginning.

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><p>SO! What did ya'll think? Bad? Terrible? Suckish? I need to go kill myself for attempting some kind of Harry Potter association? Did I make you cry (for bad)? Did I make you cry tears of joy? Idk. just…lemme know! since cookies are given out too much on here…muffins for those who reply X3<p> 


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